Movies: Past, present and future

Preview review: Jack Black is washed up in 'Gulliver's Travels'

June 4, 2010 | 9:00pm

Jack Black has made his name playing the the lazy-but-lovable goofball who manages to defy the odds by stumbling into greatness. His new role in the film "Gulliver's Travels" is no different, except that by now we're a little tired of the act.

The film, out in December, is a modern spin on the classic novel by Irishman Jonathan Swift. Black plays Lemuel Gulliver, a mailroom clerk who works at a magazine and aspires to become a writer. After fooling an editor (Amanda Peet) into believing he's a talented travel writer, he's assigned a piece on the Bermuda Triangle. But as soon as he's sent off on the exotic assignment, his boat overturns on the high seas and he wakes up to find himself on the mysterious island of Lilliput, where he slowly becomes the giant hero of the land's miniature-size population.

Sadly, we're not all that enthused by the trailer. While we'll admit we laughed when Gulliver has a silent freak-out in an elevator after his brief flirtatious encounter with Peet's character, the rest of his jokes here didn't land.

The effects also look a little bit hokey -- the waves crashing over Gulliver's head before his boat flips over look painfully fake, as does Gulliver's huge figure towering over his interesting cast of pint-size co-stars, including Emily Blunt and Jason Segel.

Plus, the film is in 3-D -- which means we'll be getting a little more up close and personal with Black than we'd like to.

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